Car-coupling



(NoModel.) Y

J. H. WISEMAN.

CAR GOUPLINGl No. 373,040.' Patented Nov. a, 1887.

//////f//////////// 4 H M fw y `All y IUNITED STATES FATENT JAMES H. WISEMAN, OF CLARKSVILLE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN F. SMITH, OF SHILOH, TENNESSEE.

GAR-COUPLING.v

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 373,040, dated November 8; 1887.

Application filed August 11, 1887.

Serial No. 246,696. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, JAMEs H. WIsEMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing atClarksville, in the county of Montgomery and State ot' Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Improvement in CanCouplings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in car-couplings; and it consists in a certain novel ic construction and arrangement of parts for service, fully set forth hereinafter and specifically pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings, Figure l is a longitudinal section of two cars connected by my improved i5 coupling. Fig. 2 is a front view of one of the cars. Fig. 3 is a detailperspective View of the bracket for locking the lever.

Referring by letter to the drawings, A A designate two horizontal parallel bars, prozo vided at the rear ends with the aligned vertical openings; and B designates a sliding bar disposed under the body of the car, in the front end of which is vmade a vertical opening to valign with the openingsin therear ends of the bars A A,and apivot-bolt, b, is passed through the said aligned openings to pivot the bars A to the sliding bar B. The rear end of the said bar B is reduced to form the stud B, which is passed through a suitable bracketor support 3o under the car; and C represents a spiral spring, which is coiled on the said stud, adapted to yield when the saidbars A A are drawn forcibly forward.y 4rlhe ends of the said spring bear, respectively, against the rearside ofthe bracket 3 5 or support,through which the stud passes, and

a collar, c, on the rear end of the said stud.

The front ends of the said bars A A are separated slightly, and provided with the tapered heads D D, having the shoulders d d at the 4o upper and lower sides thereoat the rear end, and tapered to a point at the front end. ee are aligned vertical openings formed in the said bars A A, near the front end, and through the said openings is passed the bolt E, having a collar, E', on the lower end; and F represents a spiral spring, which is coiled on thev said bolt below the lower bar, A, and bearing at themends against the under side of the said lower bar and the collar on the lower end of 5o the bolt. Y

lIt will be seen that when vthe bars A A are separated the spring F will be compressed, and the same will have a tendency to draw the said bars together again upon being released. The front ends of the said bars A A are guided 5 5 laterally by a keeper, G,'secured tothe under side ofthe car at the frontend, the said keeper being large enough to allow the said bars to be separated vertically to a considerable distance.

H designates alever pivoted to the front end 6o of the car, and connected at the lower end to the front ends of the bars A A by the connecting-link I, so that when the upper end of the said lever is moved laterally the front ends of the bars A A will also be` moved laterally. The upper end of the said leverH operates in the transverse slot 7c in the bracket K, and a leaf-spring, L, is secured on the front side of the lever, adapted to engage' automatically in a small notch, k', in the outer end of the said 7o slot lc.

The parts of the invention are so arranged that whenthe upper end of the lever is in the outer end of the slot 7c (and consequently locked in that position by the spring L being engaged inthe notch k) the bars A A are -directly under the center ofthe car-body, and therefore in engaging position. 1

When two cars approach each other to couple, the tapered heads on the front ends of 8o the'coupling-bars A A slide past each other, and the shoulders d d at the rear ends of the said heads engagewith each other, and thus form the coupling.

It will be seenthat it makes no difference whether the couplings are on the same level or not, and it also makesV no difference which of the couplers is above, as 'the tapered heads `will in either case slide past each other and forni the engagement described. If the tapered 9o head on one of the couplers passes between the beveled sides of the two tapered heads on the other coupler,the said heads will be separated, as there is not space between them for the head to pass. The said -heads are separated against the force of the spring F, and when the shoulders of the said tapered heads pass each other the said spring will cause the lheads to approach each other, and thus form the engagement. y

When it is desired to uncouple, it is simply necessary to draw one of the pairs of tapered heads laterally to allow the shoulders thereof to pass from the position in rear of the shoulders of the other heads.

The link I, connecting the front ends of the bars A Awith the lower end of the lever H,is double, preferably lnade of heavy spring-wire, one arm of which is attached to each bar A, and it will be seen that if the said spring is strong enough the spring F maybe dispensed with.

A further advantage of this coupling is that, although as long as the cars are on the track the coupling is perfectly secure, the moment that one of the cars leaves the track the couplings at both ends of the said ear will be broken-that is, the said ear will be uneoupled from the ears in front and rear-thus not endangering the said ears which have not been thrown from the track.

The coupling is, in addition,very simple in construction, and will therefore not be liable to get out of order, and it will stand a great amount of rough usage with out being damaged.

Having thus described my invention, I elaim- 25 The combination of the sliding bar B, supported below the ear, the bars A A, pivoted to the front end of the bar B and provided at their outer ends with the arrow heads D, the bolt E, passed through the bars A A and 3o having the collar E on its lower end, and a spring, F, coiled around the bolt E and bearing against the eollar E and the under side of the lower bar, A, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my 35 own I have hereto affixed mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES H. W'ISEMAN. 

